Wednesday, May 11, 2011

1000 Awesome Things - truly awesome!

Just discovered a truly fabulous website I have to share with you.1000 Awesome Things is the most fun you can have online and I think I must be the only person on the planet not to have heard about it.
Thank goodness for my morning news addiction, Canada AM, which did an interview with blogger Neil Pasricha on the occasion of his book launch for The Book of (Even More) Awesome. This "instant bestseller" follows close on the heels of The Book of Awesome.
This Neil guy is on a roll. He started the blog in 2008 because his life was in the toilet and he wanted to find a way to be happy about life. The tiny blog has had more than 40 million hits and boasts 14,732 regular readers through Feedburner. That's just crazy!
So what is it that makes 100 Awesome Things so... awesome?
The Vancouver Sun wrote, "Sunny without being saccharine, it's a countdown of life's little joys that reads like a snappy Jerry Seinfeld monologue by way of Maria Von Trapp."
Every day Neil writes about the little things in life that make people happy.

Like #254: Finding an chocolate egg way after Easter. "Surprise!

"While mindlessly dragging your hand between the couch cushions, sweeping the backyard patio stones, or searching for extra batteries in the junk drawer a tiny foiled egg suddenly appears like a sugary gift from the heavens.

"And when you score that surprisechocolate dropping just remember there can be absolutely no stopping before quick-peeling and quick-popping that chocolate straight into your mouth. Time of day, hunger level, age of chocolate — none of this matters. Frankly, if you’re stuffed on breakfast pancakes and the chocolate is powdery white and tastes like foil from two Easters ago… that is victory.

"Yes, finding a chocolate egg way after Easter is an eyes-wide moment of taste-based wonder.

"Finding a chocolate egg way after Easter is

"AWESOME!"

Like #256: When the bass kicks in.

"When the bass kicks inthe song kicks up to a whole new part of its game. Your head starts grooving, your arms start moving, and everything inside youjust wants to dance.

"AWESOME!"

Like #994: Waiters and waitresses who bring free refills without asking.

"On the whole, we’re pretty nasty to waiters and waitresses. We complain they’re wasting our time if the food takes too long to come, we complain they’re trying to rush us out if the food comes too early. We warn about allergies, make special requests, ask for more bread, and talk openly about their tip while they’re busing the table next to us. We’re kings barking orders from the booth and they’re sweating peasants in aprons and pieces of flairwith dirty J-cloths hanging out their back pocket.

"Waiters and waitresses have to put up with us and paste wide, toothy grins across their faces, besides. They split bills, sop up spills, and slip and slide across slick kitchen floors for us.

"Despite this all-odds-against-them setup, there are a few gems out there, a few rare, bright gems, who deliver perfect waiter or waitressessness. Perfection here is defined solely as bringing free refills to the table without us even asking. Because nothing beats ice-filled towers of cola arriving unannounced at our table, just as we’re finishing up our spinach and artichoke dip for a perfectly timed palate cleanse before the big entrée. The only things that come close are ice-filled towers of cola arriving unannounced right after the entrée and ice-filled towers of cola arriving unannounced with the check and handful of mints.

"…Three hours later, when you lay bloated on the coach, your entire meal swimming in the carbonated sea that is your digestive system, I know your eyelids will droop heavily and your posture will slide, but I also know you’ll give a thin, subtle smile, and a slow, sure thumbs-up sign when anyone asks “How was dinner?”